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It definitely seems like, in post-Vietnam military actions, those who oppose the action are more likely to have a problem with the politicians who determine involvement than with the troops doing their jobs.
.....A few years ago a lady (again a teacher) crashed into my car with hers and as we were waiting forever for the police to arrive we had a nice conversation. When I mentioned I had been in the service, she asked in a very whiny tone, "Whyyyy????". I told her a lot of men had died preserving our freedom and I felt it was my duty to serve. She honestly didn't understand why I felt that way. I think that's when I realized some people have such a different mindset that they aren't capable of understanding that type of calling to service. They don't understand and most of them never will change their thinking on the matter. Best to not even try explaining it to them unless they ask. Even then, don't expect them to understand.
Overall, your post reminded me, but to focus more on the point.
A thing that happened to me in the late Cold War was when I found out one of the girls in my belly dancing class was an immigrant for a Warsaw Pact country. This didn't thrill me that much since I wasn't that open about my belly dancing then, but I knew quite well the information security regulations, and reported it to my next senior security agency. As that I was the "Provost Marshall" (Navy's term is Security Officer), that meant I had to call NIS. The senior agent came over for a security interview and while it went "all right", I was wondering if I had invited them to take a more personal look at my life.
ANYHOW, when I told my classmate about this, she was shocked. She thought she had left such attention back in the Warsaw Pact.
But that is the thing to those not in intelligence or security, whether native or immigrant. They don't really understand the scrutiny one is always potentially under, that there are others around who may indeed be looking over your shoulder. The possibility of that happening in America, at least back then, might sound rather communist to those on the outside.
To those on the inside? It is just accepted that such is the way it is.
As a kid i don't recall ever seeing anyone giving my dad grief for being in a uniform. Now I do recall when we were in Maryland and he was at NSA daddy telling momma NOT to go into Washington DC unless he was along.That was during the anti-Vietnam War protests. She never did and I only got there because my junior high did a field trip for us kids. Now I recall him mentioning going into Washington (I assume the Pentagon) and carrying the albatross handcuffed to his wrist and saying he always carried his gun with him when he did. It's possible that he might have encountered some negativity but I don't know.
Funny about the story of your german landlord OhioJB. While TDY for Security Service at KellyAFB to England and Germany daddy was in Frankfurt. Well one evening he was in civilian clothes and walked past this rathskellar or tavern. He could hear mens vocies singing and recognized the song.It was from the Afrika Corps. So he decided to go in. He ordered a beer and sat down and started talking to a couple of gents.Found out it was a reunion of Afrika Corps vets. Said he enjoyed swapping stories of North Africa since he was a desert rat. At one point the MPS came in and looked around at everybody then went out. He later found out the place was off limits to our guys.This was in the late 1950s.
I think your landlord just wanted to show you he too was a fellow navyman and comrade even if on the other side.
I was in the Army 1974-1978, stationed in Germany the entire time after basic and AIT. During those 3+ years I drove an old grey VW with military issue green USA license plates all over western Europe in my free time. I never encountered anyone who said anything negative to me about my military status. I speak good German so even if they said something in German I would have picked up on it. Same story in France, Spain, Italy, Holland, Belgium, Austria.
My old Army post in Germany was just a few kilometers from the former inner German border with what used to be East Germany. The locals in the area I lived in (northern Bavaria) were generally friendly and appreciative of the US military presence given the alternative just over the next hillside to the east.
As a kid i don't recall ever seeing anyone giving my dad grief for being in a uniform. Now I do recall when we were in Maryland and he was at NSA daddy telling momma NOT to go into Washington DC unless he was along.That was during the anti-Vietnam War protests. She never did and I only got there because my junior high did a field trip for us kids. Now I recall him mentioning going into Washington (I assume the Pentagon) and carrying the albatross handcuffed to his wrist and saying he always carried his gun with him when he did. It's possible that he might have encountered some negativity but I don't know.
Funny about the story of your german landlord OhioJB. While TDY for Security Service at KellyAFB to England and Germany daddy was in Frankfurt. Well one evening he was in civilian clothes and walked past this rathskellar or tavern. He could hear mens vocies singing and recognized the song.It was from the Afrika Corps. So he decided to go in. He ordered a beer and sat down and started talking to a couple of gents.Found out it was a reunion of Afrika Corps vets. Said he enjoyed swapping stories of North Africa since he was a desert rat. At one point the MPS came in and looked around at everybody then went out. He later found out the place was off limits to our guys.This was in the late 1950s.
I think your landlord just wanted to show you he too was a fellow navyman and comrade even if on the other side.
Yes, I have no doubt my landlord just wanted me to know he had served as a sailor as well. Problem is I've always had very severe allergies (allergic to everything) and allergy induced asthma. It causes some communication problems, and when someone asks me a question, or in that case shows me a picture to comment on, I have a delay in speaking. It's very hard to explain and I'm sure harder to understand. People often read me wrong because of it, and sometimes even think I'm purposely being non-communicative. I believe that's what happened in that case, and they just read my reaction wrong. Not to mention he didn't speak English, and his wife wasn't as confident as she should have been because I do think she knew English fairly well. My German never was very good. I tried but people normally didn't understand me well. And on that particular occasion when they showed me the photograph I tried responding in German.
I'm currently active duty military and have never experienced any bias against the military. At worst, people are neutral. At best, they thank me for my service and give me free things.
Now, I'm not the type to take advantage of this. I generally never do anything in my uniform besides go to work and come home. An exception to this occurred when I got a flat tire on my way home from work and went to a local repair shop. They didn't charge me for repairing my tire (I was in uniform).
Also, I live in California. I figure that if California is receptive to military, every other state will be as well.
We were Stationed in Frankfurt in the mid-eighties and things could get VERY ugly. Our PX complex was bombed in 1985 and were were in a constant state of alert due to the Bader-Meinhof gang and the many anti-American rallies in our city.
My DH and I were MPs (different companies 284th MP & 109th MP Co) and things really got hairy when the US bombed Libya in 1986. I was posted to an outer perimeter area and there were angry protesters that were trying to climb the fence at the Abrams Complex (V Corps HQ) and we had to use the buttstroke the fingers of those people. Thankfully there was no escalation as the Polizei showed up and helped to disperse the crowd.
I was one of the American MPs chosen to be a part of the Polezei force during an anti-American rally; full riot gear (stomp & drag) and I manned a water cannon.
Since I did not look typically American I was often sent out on food and beer runs during lockdown periods (the workers at the schnellimbiss knew me and I just handed over the written order) and used the beer vending machine . When I moved on the economy I was careful not to wear my uniform to and from work.
Things were scary as I was pregnant during this mess and there was Chernobyl to boot. I will say that the Germans I met on a one to one basis were perfectly lovely. Our landlady (our place was behind her home) had a lebensborn child and he still lived with her as he was slow.
She fussed over me so much when I was pregnant and was constantly watching him so I could get some rest after he was born. She knitted and crochet four or five entire outfits for him and she cried so much when the baby and I left. We kept in touch until her death in 1994.
Not hostility, but sometimes the perception on my part that someone thinks it was not a "real" job, more like the Boy Scouts or something, and that I never had to think for myself the entire time I was in. Along with that, acting like I was in a cave or something the whole time, and only now (when I got out) am I experiencing "real" life.
It was highly annoying at the start of my civilian career encountering this mentality.
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